Tune Up Your Warrior

Jenny Chen
  • 0.0 (0)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

As a lifelong learner, I believe that understanding different perspectives is key to growth. Tune Up Your Warrior is a space where I invite warriors in their fields to dig into the topics that shape our world, challenge our beliefs, and impact everyday people. No lip service. No performative actions. No fake conversations—just real, honest dialogue with guests who bring unique experiences and perspectives to the table. Each episode, we explore stories that matter—whether it's navigating identity, challenging norms, or confronting the complex realities of our industries and communities.

  1. Sarah Chamberlin | Storytelling, Stigma, and Why Discomfort Is Necessary for Change

    5H AGO

    Sarah Chamberlin | Storytelling, Stigma, and Why Discomfort Is Necessary for Change

    On this episode of Tune Up Your Warrior, Jenny sits down with Sarah Chamberlin, communications strategist and founder of Pin Drop Communications. With a background in leading complex communications in high-impact environments, Sarah brings a grounded, real-world perspective on how organizations navigate reputation, leadership, and trust in moments that matter most. This conversation explores: What effective communication actually looks like in high-stakes environmentsThe gap between intention and impact in leadership messagingHow organizations can build trust instead of just managing opticsThe emotional and human side of communications work that often goes unseenWhy clarity, accountability, and courage matter more than polished messagingSarah also shares her journey into launching her own consulting practice, and what it means to step into ownership of your voice, your work, and your impact. This is a conversation about leadership, communication, and the systems behind both, not just what we say, but how and why we say it. Learn more about Sarah and her work here: http://pindropcomms.com/

    38 min
  2. Christopher Tse | Reclaiming Voice: Silence, Identity, and the Asian Diaspora

    MAY 6

    Christopher Tse | Reclaiming Voice: Silence, Identity, and the Asian Diaspora

    For the second episode in Tune Up Your Warrior’s three-episode Season 4 opener for AAPI Heritage Month, Jenny sits down with Christopher Tse for a powerful conversation about silence, identity, diaspora, and reclaiming voice. Christopher Tse is an educator, organizer, and writer based in Whitehorse, Yukon. According to the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, he has spent 15 years working alongside community leaders on decolonization, environmental justice, migrant advocacy, and structural racism. He is also a former runner-up at the Poetry Slam World Cup and teaches social work at the University of Victoria. Together, Jenny and Christopher explore how silence has functioned in Asian communities as both a survival strategy and a form of resistance, how the model minority myth has reinforced expectations of quietness and compliance, and why the Asian diaspora cannot be treated as a monolith. They also talk about art as resistance, storytelling as truth-telling, and the tension between assimilation and solidarity. We close the episode through the spirit of Eyes Open, Chris' widely shared anti-Asian racism PSA/poem written and narrated for Asian Heritage Month. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGQtaCyp8f8 This episode is personal, thoughtful, and deeply relevant for anyone who has ever felt the tension between belonging and authenticity, between adaptation and erasure, and between inherited silence and reclaimed voice.

    50 min
  3. Judge Albert Wong | Freedom in a Time of Rupture

    MAY 6

    Judge Albert Wong | Freedom in a Time of Rupture

    This week on Tune Up Your Warrior, I sit down a second time with Judge Albert Wong for the final episode in our three-episode Season 4 opener, and it is a conversation that feels especially important right now. Not because it adds to the noise. But because it asks a deeper question underneath it: What does freedom actually mean? Albert brings a rare perspective to that question. After 40 years in the Canadian Armed Forces | Forces armées canadiennes, including work in Afghanistan and on UN peacekeeping missions, he has seen what the oppression of freedom looks like up close, especially for women. Together, we talk about freedom not just as a political concept, but as the right to exist, express yourself, and move through the world without oppression, harassment, or fear. We explore: ❤️‍🩹 Why allyship has to go beyond “I believe you” 🛑 How we address harmful behavior at its source, not just after the damage is done ⚡ What rupture in human relationships looks like right now 👿 Why patriarchy and systemic inequality still shape how power moves ♥️ And what moral courage looks like in everyday life I also share a personal reflection on how being touched inappropriately at a conference violated something fundamental: my freedom to exist, my freedom of joy, and my safety from harm.Albert and I will also both be speaking at the upcoming ACCT Foundation Summit in Waterloo May 15-17, we’d love to see you there. Be sure to grab your tickets: https://acctfoundation.ca/summit/https://acctfoundation.ca/summit/ This one is thoughtful, honest, and deeply relevant.

    57 min
  4. Julie Kim | Being Bothered, Being Loud, and Owning Your Voice

    MAY 6

    Julie Kim | Being Bothered, Being Loud, and Owning Your Voice

    What happens when you stop shrinking, stop filtering, and finally let your real voice take up space? To kick off Season 4 of Tune Up Your Warrior and celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, Jenny sits down with stand-up comedian and podcast host Julie Kim for a conversation about comedy, identity, voice, representation, and what it means to stop trying to fit into roles that were never built for you. Julie shares her journey from corporate consulting on Bay Street into stand-up comedy, and how years of being told, directly and indirectly, what was “appropriate” for a woman of colour to say on stage shaped her early career. She opens up about the pressure to tone herself down, avoid certain topics, and distance herself from the very parts of her identity that would later become central to her voice. Together, Jenny and Julie talk about motherhood, authenticity, representation, healing through humour, and Julie’s podcast BOTHERED, where social irritations and deeper injustices collide in the most honest and hilarious ways. This is a conversation about being fully yourself, staying bothered for the right reasons, and why women, especially Asian women, owning space still matters so deeply. Julie also shares why she believes girls and women give her hope, and defines a warrior as someone who keeps going despite the barriers in front of them. This episode is funny, thoughtful, honest, and the perfect way to open a new season. To learn more about Julie Kim and her podcast, visit: https://www.juliekimcomedy.com/podcast

    35 min
  5. Season 3 Finale | This Was Never Just a Podcast

    APR 22

    Season 3 Finale | This Was Never Just a Podcast

    In this solo Season 3 finale of Tune Up Your Warrior, Jenny reflects on why she started the podcast in the first place and what a year of conversations across sectors, identities, and lived experiences has taught her. What began as a platform for thoughtful conversations has become something much deeper: a bridge. A wider room. A place where listeners can meet voices, stories, and perspectives they may never have otherwise encountered. In this episode, Jenny shares why the podcast was never meant only for people already invested in the topic at hand, what she has learned from sitting with guests across leadership, medicine, advocacy, creativity, philanthropy, and systems change, and why real growth happens when we are willing to listen beyond ourselves. She also reflects on the deeper patterns underneath so many of these conversations, including power, belonging, visibility, and the inherited standards that still shape who gets heard, trusted, and seen as worthy. The episode also includes an adapted reflection inspired by her Parliament Hill keynote, Power, Partnership & the Rooms We Redesign, along with a more personal section on what the past year has taught her about belonging, community, philanthropy, and the kind of ecosystem she is trying to build, one rooted in connection, access, and meaningful support rather than optics or proximity. This is a reflective, honest close to the season and a reminder that Tune Up Your Warrior was never just about content. It was always about widening the room.

    41 min
  6. Dr. Safraz Mohammed | Inside the Mind of a Neurosurgeon: Precision, Purpose, and the Future of Care

    APR 15

    Dr. Safraz Mohammed | Inside the Mind of a Neurosurgeon: Precision, Purpose, and the Future of Care

    What does it mean to operate on the part of us that holds memory, movement, language, identity, and quality of life? In this episode of Tune Up Your Warrior, Jenny sits down with Dr. Safraz Mohammed, neurosurgeon, educator, and leader at The Ottawa Hospital, for one of the most fascinating and unexpectedly accessible conversations the podcast has featured to date. This is the longest episode Jenny has ever recorded, and listening back during the editing process, what stood out most was not just how brilliant Dr. Mohammed is, but how deeply human he is. So little editing was needed because he made brain surgery and complex medical innovation feel understandable, compelling, and impossible to tune out. Rather than feeling like the conversation might go over your head, this is the kind of episode that makes you lean in. Together, they explore Dr. Mohammed’s journey into neurosurgery, the immense responsibility of operating on the brain and spine, the realities of awake brain surgery, and how the field has evolved from simply removing tumours to preserving function and quality of life whenever possible. They also dive into the future of minimally invasive, AI-assisted, and robotic care, the challenges of integrating internationally trained medical professionals into Canada’s health-care system, and the importance of shaping the next generation of surgeons. The episode also highlights a powerful example of innovation at The Ottawa Hospital through the story of Jody Stang, a veteran whose rare spinal cord glioblastoma was treated with a Canadian-first fluorescence-guided spinal surgery. You can read more here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/canadian-first-surgery-offers-hope-veteran-rare-cord-john-swettenham-jfsge?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via To learn more about The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s Campaign to Create Tomorrow, visit creatingtomorrow.ca. This is a conversation about science, humanity, and what becomes possible when brilliance is matched by humility, clarity, and care.

    1h 17m
  7. Susan Ingram | Mentorship as a Lifeline: Building Belonging with Big Brothers, Big Sisters Ottawa

    APR 8

    Susan Ingram | Mentorship as a Lifeline: Building Belonging with Big Brothers, Big Sisters Ottawa

    Mentorship is not charity.It’s belonging.It’s confidence. And sometimes, it’s the single thing that changes the trajectory of a young person’s life. In this episode of Tune Up Your Warrior, I sit down with Susan Ingram, Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa, for a conversation that goes far beyond programs and initiatives. What stayed with me after we first met was not just the work Susan leads, but how she leads it, with clarity, heart, and an unwavering belief in the power of human connection. Susan shares what mentorship truly looks like on the ground. How trusted relationships create pathways where none existed. Why opportunity is not equally distributed, but impact can be, when communities choose to show up together. We talk about leadership rooted in purpose, building confidence in young people who have been told the world is not built for them, and why mentorship is one of the most effective tools we have to change outcomes, not just for individuals, but for entire communities. This episode airs just ahead of Fashion for Futures, Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa’s signature fundraiser on April 17 at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Powered by their social enterprise, Thrive Select Thrift, the event brings together sustainable fashion and community impact, with all proceeds supporting life-changing mentorship matches for youth across Ottawa and Renfrew County. We also celebrate BBBSO’s recent recognition at the Ottawa Business Journal’s BOB Awards, where their thrift shop was named Best Social Enterprise, a reflection of how deeply their work resonates across our city. This conversation is about people.About mentors who change direction.And about what becomes possible when we choose to invest in the next generation. 🎧 Listen now.📍 Learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa here: https://www.bbbso.ca

    40 min
  8. Jay Lim | Redefining the Blueprint: Reframing How We Build, Think, and Live

    APR 1

    Jay Lim | Redefining the Blueprint: Reframing How We Build, Think, and Live

    What if innovation isn’t about building something new — but reframing how we see what already exists? In this episode of Tune Up Your Warrior, Jenny sits down with Jay Lim, co-founder and principal architect of 25:8 Architecture + Urban Design, to explore how architecture mirrors leadership, culture, and systems change. Jay shares how reframing assumptions — rather than improving outdated models — has shaped his work, from reimagining cemeteries as places of life and connection, to challenging how cities think about space, density, and design. Together, they unpack: Why reframing is a critical leadership skill How design thinking applies beyond architecture into business, policy, and parenting The danger of solving modern problems with “horse and buggy” thinking Why courage, curiosity, and iteration are essential to building a future-ready city This conversation is a masterclass in systems thinking, human-centered design, and the power of asking better questions. If you’re a leader, builder, creator, or someone curious about how the world around us is shaped — this episode invites you to rethink what’s possible. To learn more about 25:8, visit https://258arch.com/https://258arch.com/

    34 min
See All (59)

About

As a lifelong learner, I believe that understanding different perspectives is key to growth. Tune Up Your Warrior is a space where I invite warriors in their fields to dig into the topics that shape our world, challenge our beliefs, and impact everyday people. No lip service. No performative actions. No fake conversations—just real, honest dialogue with guests who bring unique experiences and perspectives to the table. Each episode, we explore stories that matter—whether it's navigating identity, challenging norms, or confronting the complex realities of our industries and communities.

Information

  • Creator
    Jenny Chen
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    59
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Jenny Chen
  • Show Website
    Tune Up Your Warrior